New drivers to be banned from using mobiles

Using mobile makes you four times more likely to crash

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Using your mobile phone when driving - whether you use a handsfree kit or not - makes you four times more likely to have an accident

Young drivers could be banned from using their mobile phones while driving - even if they use a handsfree kit. Research has shown that drivers aged 20 and under regularly make mobile calls while driving, according to insurance firm Yesinsurance.co.uk.

It recommends that the UK should introduce a total mobile phone ban for drivers under the age of 20.

Four times more likely to crash

"[Legislation in] California prohibits mobile phone use in drivers under the age of 18, but we would like to see this extended to all teenagers in the UK," said Paul Purdy of Yesinsurance.co.uk.

Since February, it is illegal to use your mobile phone in the UK without using a handsfree kit. But research from the Transport Research Laboratory, University of Sydney and University of Utah shows that using your mobile phone at all - with or without handsfree kits - makes you four times more likely to have a crash.

"Up to eight million drivers in the UK may be taking risks that can equal those of drink-driving, simply by using mobile phones," Purdy added.